Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Episode 12- Unseen
by Steel Kiba
Summary: Recovering from their last horrific ordeal, the Power Rangers begin their search for an unseen realm that might hold the key to defeating Rita Repulsa. Rita plans to head them off and send them crashing down to Earth with her newest monster, but her and the Rangers all must face an ancient guardian during their quest. Major crossover references to the Legend of Zelda begin here!
1. Mapping Things Out

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

 **Hello, everyone. It's been quite a while since I've done a new episode! I've been very busy with a new job, and I've also been writing for a non fan fiction project that is very close to my heart, one I hope to start putting out there next year. Plus, I needed some time off after completing Episode 10. You'll also notice a change in my dream voiceover cast that I do just for fun at the start of every episode, and it will be reflected in updates of earlier episodes soon; Wendee Lee is a wonderful voice actress, but I feel this famous addition will reflect Scorpina's giddiness and thirst for carnage. This is the final change for Season 1, and I will add Special Guest Voices for certain monsters and characters I feel fit the character.**

 **Now, in a previous update, I said that I'd be editing all of my stories for readability and better context. I've done so with Episode 1 of MMPR (uploads coming soon), but I wanted to get a new episode out right now out of necessity. I'm not judging anybody out there, but from an American perspective, I feel that this country needs as much positivity as there is out there, and this is a time when we need superheroes. I say that mainly from a creative perspective, as the real work is done by our everyday people: veterans, police officers, fire and medical workers, and our teachers. They and every good person in this country are our** ** _real_** **superheroes, but I hope these stories where I throw together Nintendo mascots and people in colorful costumes with robot dinosaurs bring at least a moment of happiness to all of you not just in the United States, but all over the world.**

 **Thank You.**

Eons ago, the evil sorceress Rita Repulsa ruled everything with a poison grip, enslaving humanity and destroying countless wondrous creatures, all in the name of a lust for control and a hidden power. The good wizard Zordon was able to seal her away for ten thousand years at the cost of his freedom, but she has returned to wreak havoc on Earth again. Now, Zordon has chosen a team of noble, world-traveled teenagers to harness the power of the dinosaurs to stop her and bring peace to the world. They are the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!

 **VOICE CAST**

Brennan Mejia as Ash Ketchum/Red Ranger

Rachel Lillis as Misty Williams/Yellow Ranger

Lucien Dodge as Tracey "Sketchit" Matthews/Blue Ranger

Erin Cahill as Lia Feran/Pink Ranger

Johnny Yong Bosch as Brock Harrison/Black Ranger

Josh Grelle as Hayashi Feran/Green Ranger

David Fielding as Zordon

Richard Horovitz as Alpha 5

Barbara Goodson as Rita Repulsa

Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar

 _Featuring_

Linda Blair as Scorpina

Robert Englund as Eye Guy

 _Unseen_

"You're sure you're okay?"

"I'm _fine,_ Aunt Rose. It's just been a crazy few days."

Misty Williams took her face away from her cell phone and sighed, placing a hand over her forehead. This was the second time her aunt had called her that Wednesday and the eighth school day in a row.

"I just want to make sure," Aunt Rose said sweetly and insistently. "I've found you passed out on your bedroom floor the last three afternoons. I don't blame you with everything that's been going on."

"I can't afford to take any days off. Exams are just around the corner. I'll just have to take some more time to rest when I get home."

Aunt Rose hummed on the other end of the phone. "Alright, dear. If you say so," she said. "Just let me know if you need anything. See you later."

"Bye," Misty ended, hanging up. She shifted in her seat at one of the big wooden benches right in the middle of Feron Grove High School's courtyard. She grabbed her sandwich and took a tentative bite out of it, closing her eyes after seeing the faint outline of a perfect circle on her wrist.

"Passed out on the floor?" Ash Ketchum asked, leaning over and reaching into the young lady's lunch bag. "You never told me _that_."

Misty repressed a laugh. She watched Ash take her pickle and grabbed the other end, snapping it in two with him.

"Does it matter where I collapse? I can't tell the difference when I'm asleep," she replied, chewing on her food.

"What is sleep?" Tracey Matthews interjected, taking a seat on the other side of the bench and setting down his laptop; he opened it up and started typing away. Brock Harrison slid right next to him, tossing his book bag off of his back and onto the table.

"This," Brock answered, putting his head on his bag and sighing. He lifted his head five seconds later when the sounds of shoes crunching dead leaves on the grass got louder and louder. Wincing, he saw Lia Feran and her older brother Hayashi. Both of them wore faint smiles, and the four returned the expressions in kind. Nobody said a word as the two took their places at the table. They just sat, breathed in the chilly November air, and looked around at the students talking and laughing and at the sun that shone overhead.

"Long time, no see, Mr. Sun," Hayashi remarked, chuckling.

Lia nudged him in the side, shaking her head. "It's been nice and bright for nearly two weeks." She narrowed her gaze at a paper in her hand. "Speaking of nice and bright…not me…"

Hayashi looked over at her paper and raised an eyebrow. "Eh, it's fine, Lia," he said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his fleece jacket. "Heaven forbid Miss History bungle a few questions."

"Yeah, the lowest I've ever seen you get is what, a B plus?" Ash inquired.

Lia grimaced and turned the page, revealing her anthropology exam to be covered in crimson Xs, yielding a 76.

"Oooh…" Ash let out, but he clammed up upon seeing Lia's frown deepen, followed up by disapproving looks from Brock and Misty.

"Join the club," Ash said. "I aced that math exam, but after that it feels like everything's been tumbling out of my head." He then turned to Misty and smirked. "Not like someone slammed their fist into it or anything."

Misty exhaled and rolled her eyes while Lia and Hayashi laughed. She took a rough bite out of her food and then stuffed the rest of the sandwich in her mouth.

"I'm just trying to not worry about it," Brock mumbled, scratching his bushy hair. "We beat Dredwing, we can beat some assignments. Rita backing off gives us some time to breathe, so we just need to take a breather…"

"Hey, I'm glad someone's listening to my advice and not freaking out," Hayashi cut in, putting an arm around his older friend. "But did you have to nod off while checking Terry's gag reflex during your lab? He told me he almost ate that tongue depressor."

Brock stirred and yawned. "It checked out, didn't it?"

Lia smiled and moved next to Tracey, who had since resumed typing. She moved a USB connector that protruded out of the top pocket of his blue overalls and looked at the screen.

"Well at least we know who _isn't_ keeling over," she said.

Tracey nodded. "I've just been wide awake for the most part," he quickly answered. "I'm not trying to sound like a robot, but it's times like these when I can just _go._ "

He extended his hand, and Lia placed a flash drive into his palm. As Tracey plugged the device into his computer, Brock rose from his attempted slumber.

"So you got my maps alright," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Absolutely," Lia responded. "And I thank you."

"You're wellllllcome…" Brock yawned.

"So you were on maps?" Ash asked, stretching his arms over his head. He then rested his right arm on Misty's shoulder, who didn't seem to mind. "That's easy. Lia told me to comb through _Island Legends_ again last night."

Misty tilted her head to the side. "Yeah… I just tried to find what I could online. Marine biology waits for nobody if you put it off long enough. What gives?"

Lia's eyes began to light up. "I know I've inconvenienced you guys, especially with everything going on right now. But something's been bugging me. Remember what we read about the Golden Power? It's what Rita's been after the whole time."

"Other than taking over the planet again," Tracey added, pulling up maps and text documents on his laptop.

"Uh-huh," Ash acknowledged, finishing his pickle and wiping drops of juice off the collar of his solid red button-up shirt. "But remember, it's still missing. It's locked away in…" He winced as he craned his neck upward, his heavy eyes meeting the sun. "The Sacred Realm, right?"

"Right," Lia said back. Ash pointed, and Lia looked back. She quieted down upon seeing their friends Wendy Cooper, Eliza Peterson, and the Naji brothers Rashid and Yashid talking to some other kids near the west school entrance. The other teens looked excited, the Najis and Eliza smiled politely, and Wendy looked to the side nervously. The six at the table couldn't hear everything being said, but the words "vampires," "Putties," and "deadly" stood out.

"Just leave them alone…" Hayashi hissed. "Come on…"

Lia silently agreed, but caught everyone's attention once more. "Ash is right. The Sacred Realm is the hiding place of the Golden Power, and only the chosen ones can enter it."

"But there's always a different way to do so," Misty said, pointing to the quoted text from one of the old books she found online. "Though the dark ones may try to seize the treasure, only those courageous and pure of heart may open the door. And the Golden Power will grant the desire of whomever wields it! But look, it all comes back to collecting certain pendants or jewels or something along those lines and then bringing them to a point in the kingdom."

"Well, we have the Power Coins," Hayashi supplied, keeping his eyes on the group talking on the other side of the courtyard. "They helped lead you guys to the Dino Crystals and my Dragon Dagger. That's a good start."

Tracey displayed the maps Brock had compiled on-screen. "Take a look here," he said. Faded drawings of mountains, deserts, fields, and lakes on what appeared to be parchment were in view next to a modern map of the Amalei Region. "This is what the Amalei Region used to look like, a lot bigger than it used to be."

"Ten thousand years, give or take, could certainly have changed that," Brock noted. "But not everything."

"Right," Hayashi said, dragging his finger across the map, squinting to see. "See, Feron Grove and the kingdom…Hyrule? Yeah, that's central. The sea is to the south, that explains Kau Cove, and then farmland in the north for Riko."

"But look," Ash pointed out. "The desert is in the west. And so is the Command Center…"

"So if the Hyrule kingdom is central, then the access point to the Sacred Realm must be here," Misty whispered.

Lia clapped her hands together. "And if we can somehow find the Golden Power, we'll get rid of Rita for good. We just have to…"

Suddenly, an electronic chime stopped Lia. Everyone snapped their heads up to see what it was, ready to answer the call.

Ash smiled sheepishly. "It's just my phone," he said. The others sighed and Brock pushed his head.

"You're really calming us down, man," he said as Ash kept grinning.

"Thought it was on silent. Let's see…" Ash started, scrolling through his read texts to get to the new one, Misty and Tracey frowning in unison as he spoke. "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Dad, Mom, Mom, Mike…"

"What did he say?" Tracey asked.

"The doctors are going to see if he can come home today."

The six young people looked at each other again in silence, their pensive expressions slowly turning into ones of relief. They all turned to look at their cornered friends across the way, their smiles dipping slightly. That's when the bell signaling the second half of the school day rang, and the exhausted team rose and went their separate ways.


	2. Stairway to Evil

While the teenagers known as the Power Rangers were trying to just keep themselves moving and alert, their main adversary was attentive to every last detail. The space sorceress Rita Repulsa stood with her bony arms crossed and every muscle in her body taught while she stared at her chief monster maker at work. Finster did his best to keep his white, hoary hands from dropping his metal shaping spatula; though he kept his eyes as low as he could, an occasional glimpse at his queen filled him with her venomous anger.

 _"Sharpen the spires here,"_ Finster said to himself. He dared not speak a syllable while Rita bored her eyes into him. _"Make sure these are nice and smooth."_ The goatish alien took a few more moments to detail his masterpiece, finally pressing down the last bump in the figure, a work comprised of space clay and crushed glass. He then mashed his slipping spectacles to his eyes and carried the figure to the Monster-Matic oven, wrenching the lever on the floor. The machine sputtered to life, clanging and banging as the clay object traveled inside.

Finster kept his eyes on the big tube running across his workshop ceiling, then cowered when something smashed against the wall. He allowed himself a peek, noticing bits of brown space clay littering the floor near his table of prototype monsters. Fractured wings and a long fang were all that remained of a Dredwing statue, one he had worked on before Rita had decided to seek out the flesh-and-blood beast itself in the caves of Riko.

"That's the last time I will ever trust one of those natives," Rita said in a monotone voice that almost rendered the machinations of the Monster-Matic to Finster. "We will stick to what we can control."

"Y…Yes, your evilness," Finster replied, slowly rising and turning his attention to the jiggling tube above, careful not to stare at his mistress. Squatt, who had been festering with boils for the past week, had noticed the three new wrinkles that creased Rita's face and had nearly lost his head to Scorpina's sword when he said something about them; the witch settled for the pestilence spell after a retreating Squatt tripped over his own feet and dodged the blade Rita had wrenched from Scorpina's claws.

 _Bang!_

Finster fixed his gaze on what emerged from the Monster-Matic. The smoke cleared and he let out a sigh of relief. Rita walked closer to the new creature, her glare still affixed to her person. She inspected the curved being, a seven-foot winding spiral staircase.

"My empress, I present to you Vertigo," Finster announced, gesturing toward his creation.

Rita didn't say a word. She took a thin finger and dragged it across the staircase. In the din of the Moon Palace's monster workshop, Vertigo gleamed like a newly-finished diamond, blue much like the fabled glass slipper. Each step and rail was silky smooth to the touch, save for the two spires that anchored Vertigo and the two that reached to the ceiling. Rita ran the bottom of her index finger up the top left needle, tapped the top, and quickly drew it back. A trickle of fresh dark purple blood greeted her sight.

"Sharp," she began, licking her wound. "But I take it you followed my other specifications to the letter, Finster?"

"Absolutely," the artisan replied, dusting his paws off on his dirty smock. "Vertigo will have no trouble extending its reach to impressive heights even without your growth spell, and its body is made specifically to rotate at immense speed, proving to be just as deadly at it is disorienting when drilling into prey."

Rita's lips turned upward for the first time in a week. "Good. Say no more. Eye Guy should be finished finding the gate to our destination. I will see Goldar and Scorpina off." She turned to leave the room, but stopped short of doing so, keeping her back to Finster.

"If the Power Rangers reach the Realm before us, you'll be taking a trip to the top of the staircase."

Finster shuddered as his ruler left the room. He then scuttled behind his workbench when two angular, piercing eyes opened in the middle of Vertigo's top two spires, ones that rotated along the glassy surface and followed him across the room.


	3. Reaction

Lia sat smack dab in the middle of the classroom, three rows back from the front, but she was still a perfect target for Robert Wells, professor of the advanced United States history course at Feron Grove High.

"Now, we all know finals are in a couple weeks," Wells said, stepping across the room and eyeing each student. "But don't let that little Christmas present just stand as a saving grace for you and your grade. This next paper can either lift you up or cut you off at the knees."

"We're not even a year in, and some of you have been stellar since day one. Some have improved leaps and bounds over what I'd call marginal, even dismal work." The professor looked directly at Lia, who ceased yawing into her arm and made eye contact. Wells just continued walking to the left side and speaking.

"But I've got to admit, I've seen not just a drop in grades as of late, but just in plain interest in more than a few of you folks. When I say it's okay to ask questions, I _expect_ them. We only grow, we only _live_ by asking and looking for more, going forward and up.

He swept his gaze across the room, looking at some students who sat back slack, and others, like Ash and Eliza, who wore frowns that looked like they couldn't dip any lower.

"I understand that everybody in here has been shaken up by the creature that invaded our cities last week, that hurt our friends," Wells continued, adjusting the cufflinks on the sleeves of his carnation dress shirt. "The entire semester has been flooded with some of the worst terror a lot of us have seen. But just as shocking as what's been going on has been, it's been just as refreshing to know that we always have those in our country who will fight to keep peace, to restore what binds every living thing. It doesn't matter what armor they wear or even if they pick up a weapon, but our world's best never lose sight of their goal, or of what's in their heart. Do the same and don't lose sight of your aim, or your passion."

A few of the students' expressions changed for the better, and Lia and Ash mustered the energy to half-smile as soon as the final bell rang. Everyone slowly rose to their feet and started to leave.

"Wonderful speech, Doc," Eliza said, hoisting her backpack over her shoulder.

"Notice I separated aim and passion, Ms. Peterson," the professor responded, looking at her coyly. "I know history doesn't hold a place in your heart like baseball does, but academic eligibility it's the cousin of a cruel mistress."

Eliza shook her head, making her way out the door in front of Ash and Lia.

"Forward and up, Mr. Ketchum," Wells said, tapping his shoulder.

"You got it," Ash answered quickly, hustling out the door. Wells chuckled at the boy, but said nothing to Lia, instead just nodding and shooting her a determined look. Lia returned it, but her distraught expression came back as soon as she turned away.

"That's easy for him to say," Eliza said to Ash as the three walked down the hall. "He didn't have to try and chop one of those giant Putty things down. I still can't get that ugly face out of my head…"

"I'm right there with you," the young man responded, turning to stop and get things at his locker. "They're tougher than I thought they'd be. The Power Rangers make it look so easy."

Eliza grinned, turning suddenly to the sensation of being caught in a side hug by one of her other friends, Vanna Newberry.

"I still can't believe you actually got to meet the Power Rangers again and fight one of those aliens! That's so cool!" Vanna cried as she looked into the mirror in her locker and evened out her eye shadow. "Better those gray guys than the vampires, though."

"You should've seen them," Terry Kilpatrick added, pulling his karate gi out of his locker and wiping his glasses off on the sleeve of the jacket. "I mean, my cousin Bradley in Riko saw them when the Pink and Black Rangers came in to finish them off. They were just biting and tearing…"

Eliza cringed, and Vanna cut him off.

"Dis-gusting, Terry…" she drawled in her English accent. "Please…"

Lia and Ash just looked at each other, not wanting to re-imagine the beasts they had faced either.

"I'm surprised I'm keeping my arm. I thought it would've rotted off with all that slime that got in it."

Mike Dorada laughed harder than everyone else in the patient room at Feron Grove Hospital. Yashid and Rashid laughed a little, Brock and Hayashi tried to smile, and Misty and Tracey just looked to the side. Wendy sat in a chair by Mike's side, squeezing his knee while he put on his sneakers for the first time in over a week.

"That's the least of what you could've lost," Wendy nearly whispered. She gripped Mike tighter while she spoke, dipping her head.

Mike finished tying his shoes and got to his feet, stretching and taking care not to strain his heavily bandaged left shoulder. He then took Wendy's hand and said, "Yeah, you, my friends, my family. What was I supposed to do? And didn't you rush those monsters, too?"

"The Power Rangers were in trouble…" Wendy began, pulling the edge of her plaid scarf with one hand and running her hand over her chest, where she was also bitten by one of the Keese.

"Same with me!" Mike interjected, bringing her closer and flashing a big grin; Wendy huddled with him but did not emulate his facial expression. "We all did our part to make sure they whipped 'em in the end." He slapped five with the Naji brothers. "Some of us didn't even get a scratch."

Yashid pumped his fist, his curly mop of hair bouncing as he moved. "Those ripped Putties sure looked stronger, but they got beaten the same way they always get beat!"

"Not exactly the same way…" Brock muttered to Misty, who nodded in return.

Rashid chuckled at his younger brother's words, mussing his hair. "We're just lucky that one we were close to backed into our trap and that we all hung in there" he said, turning to Misty, Brock, Tracey, and Hayashi. "So are you lobbying to be a Power Ranger there, Mike?"

"You know it, Rash!" Mike chortled, making his way out the door toward the reception area.

"Well, everyone says they'd buy that…" Wendy said. "All the time…"

"Yeah, but the Rangers are elite fighters," Yashid noted. "Hayashi and Lia fit the mold right off the bat."

Misty, Brock, and Tracey all tensed up. Mike tilted his head as if to say, "True."

"So what about it, Hayashi?" he asked. "That's what you were up to last week?"

"Yeah, if only being able to kick at head level made me a Power Ranger," Hayashi said as calm as can be, then bringing his voice to a whisper. "I'd be doing just fine."

The group moved down the lengthy corridor, now buzzing once again with activity. The teens took a left turn to the reception area where Mr. and Mrs. Dorada were wrapping up the last of the paperwork to take their son home. Just then, Nurse Oliver Matthews strode down the way, perusing over a list of incoming patients.

"Hey, Dad," Tracey greeted, breaking away from the group.

"Hi there, son," Oliver replied in a hurried tone, looking up for a second and then going back to his list. "Glad to see Mike's all ready to get out of here."

Tracey shuffled his feet. "Not more than he is, I'd bet." They turned their attention to the right, where Mike was giving his parents a big hug and slowly put on his olive-colored pea coat, proudly dusting off the tear where a vampire's fangs tore through.

The younger Matthews turned back, steeling himself at the sight of the bruised bite marks on his father's arms, the ones not covered by his aquamarine scrubs; despite the outpouring of blood during the attack, the infected humans only managed to tear through Oliver's skin.

"When do you get off?"

"Eight. Picked up another shift."

Tracey frowned. "You should get some rest, Dad," he said. "You've been pushing it way too hard since…"

"Hey, hey," Oliver interrupted, putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "It comes with the territory. I'll be resting all day tomorrow, though. Okay?"

Tracey shifted, rubbing the bags under his eyes. His father ran his hand over his son's head.

"Okay?"

"Alright."

"Good," Oliver said, turning and walking over to a woman who was next to get a flu vaccine. "But you should get home. You look beat."

Tracey shook his head and went back over to his friends.

"I'm so glad your cousin is doing better, Wendy," Misty said. "Is she going to be at the party, too?"

"Yeah, she is," Wendy answered. "She can use a good dose of fun."

"Ready to go, Wendy?" Mike asked, extending his hand. "Dinner's in an hour."

Wendy blushed and readily gave him hers. "We'll see you guys tomorrow!"

The rest of the teenagers waved and said goodbye as The Doradas and Wendy left through the hospital's electric sliding glass doors.

"Speaking of the party," Rashid said. "I could use some cheese fries. Anyone want to go to the Union?"

Yashid pushed past his elder sibling. "I'm already there, man!" he cried.

"We'll catch up in a bit!" Misty called out as Rashid quickly followed his brother. She then sighed and held her head, the fog of several hectic days making her sway. "Good thing 'a bit' is always subjective."

"You got that right," Brock concurred, waving hello to the tall receptionist with the short, blue-dyed hair that had previously helped him and Tracey. "Can I see those maps, Hayashi?"

Hayashi didn't answer. He only smacked his lips together.

"You okay?"

"Cheese fries…" Hayashi droned.

Before the others could vocalize their sympathies, six beeps escaped from Brock's Wrist Communicator. The group strode through the waiting room and into a side hallway, huddling together near in an empty corner.

"This is Brock," the oldest of the four announced, activating the transmission. "What's up, Zordon?"

"Power Rangers, report to the Command Center immediately" their mentor began. "There are some new developments regarding your search. Ash and Lia are already here."

"We'll be right there."

Each young person looked at the other, taking a collective breath to prepare themselves for whatever they'd face next, and they pressed the teleport buttons on their Communicators, materialized into columns of light, and rocketed through the hospital and into the sky above.


	4. Hardly a Day at the Beach

Crackling streams of green, black, blue, and yellow flew down from the Feron Grove sky, passing through the cylindrical entrance of the Command Center, and dissipated around Hayashi, Brock, Tracey, and Misty. The tingling electric currents that enveloped their senses were now replaced by the panorama of golden stars, backdrops of blended colors, and the beeps of the computer consoles that helped power the fortress of good.

Lia and Ash took their attention away from the consoles, their fatigue-laden eyes meeting their friends', but Alpha Five took them out of their stupor.

"Welcome back, Rangers!" the automaton chirped, waving his red ruffle-tube arms in the air. "It is wonderful to see you again."

"Same here, Alpha," Misty said. Alpha kept his right hand extended in the air, and the four teens each greeted Alpha with a high five and a pat on the shoulder. "And it's great to see you, Zordon, especially since none of us are a rabid monster anymore."

Zordon closed his eyes, nodded his enormous blue head, and smiled. "Likewise, my friends. I'm sorry that I must call you here given the stress you have all been under recently, but Rita and her followers are just as invested in finding the Sacred Realm as you are."

"We've got all our info assembled, guys," Ash began, showing the others a new printout of the topography of the Amalei Region. "The entrance to Realm is said to be traditionally housed in the center of the land, but we've haven't been able to lock onto a specific access point.

"I've scanned nearly every quadrant with Alpha," Lia added as she joined the group, her tone glum. "I can't find any portal or dimensional distortion. Nothing."

"There must be a way, Lia," Hayashi urged, going over to one of the monitors. "Maybe there's just a building built on top of a shrine or something. Hmm…no, no, no…"

Misty shook her head, and Lia knelt and rested her head on the smooth purple top of one of the computers. "I looked into that all last night, Hayashi. I can't find anything about one specific place that always triggers an opening."

"Just many," Tracey added.

"Power Rangers, please stop and listen," Zordon ordered in his booming voice. The six teens all looked at their mentor. He closed his eyes again for a moment and continued. "I understand your need to find what you seek, but you cannot enter the Sacred Realm unprepared and in the darkness.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lia asked, raising an eyebrow. "We've been researching and researching, Zordon!"

Misty stepped forward. "Yeah, and we aren't afraid of whatever Rita throws at us!"

"No matter what it is," Ash contributed. He put a hand on Misty's shoulder, and Misty drew a little closer to him. "We will keep fighting."

Zordon's pensive expression behind the dimensional tube that imprisoned him never changed as he listened to his chosen heroes.

"I commend all of you for your courage and drive. However, there is more to your quest that you must take into consideration before you rush in. Rita is more powerful than you give her credit for, and she knows much more of the Sacred Realm and the Golden Power than perhaps even I."

"Right, you were the one that stopped her before," Tracey brought up. "So where should we look first to stop her? We need to blockade her."

Brock checked all of the information as well, then adding his voice when he remembered something he discussed with his friends. "Clearly, just fighting one monster after the other isn't going to make Rita go away. I think we would've obtained something by now by beating them all."

"Absolutely, Brock," Alpha chimed in. "Things have definitely changed. For one thing, we're not sure if we can just open a portal of some sort to the Sacred Realm or even how we would accomplish such a feat now. You all did well to rescue Ash from the Dark Dimension, but this is far different."

"You must heed me, Rangers." Zordon interjected once more. "Remember what you learned from trying to save me when Hayashi was under Rita's spell and more recently in your fight with Dredwing."

Lia gritted her teeth, gripping the side of the computer terminal and hissing.

"We were running around, striking everywhere at once. Even if we succeeded…"

"Look at how we feel now…and our friends…" Ash concluded.

"Precisely," Zordon said. "Though your weariness was inevitable, there is no reason to further impair yourselves when there is a window to focus. Your health and mental wellbeing is much more important in these cases."

The six young humans took a moment to collect themselves, each one nodding in agreement with Zordon's words.

"There are some things I must reveal to you regarding your journey," the sage announced. "As you are undoubtedly aware, the Sacred Realm is but one of several separate planes of being on this planet, each holding wonders you have never…"

Zordon found himself cut off by the wail of the Monster Alarm, its shrill call forcing the six young people to wince in pain.

"Sensors indicate a monster energy imprint at the very north of the island!" Alpha reported, pressing clear, aquamarine, and orange buttons on the Command Center computer. The Viewing Globe flickered and presented everyone with a video feed of the northern shoreline, miles away from the farming community of Riko, but there was no monster to be found.

"There's nothing there," Hayashi said. "The monster can't be invisible. Not permanently, I hope."

Alpha checked the computer readout. "We have a lock on the imprint, but it's rapidly moving north."

"Well, maybe we can draw whatever that thing is to us if we go down to the beachhead," Ash suggested.

"That is a good idea, Ashton," Zordon cut in. "I would suggest that all six of you stay together while you are there. There is no telling what our enemies may have planned while they compete with you."

The narrow hallways nearest Rita Repulsa's apothecary were nearly impenetrable as thirty Putty Patrollers marched along the cold stone floor. The sight of the multitude of gray aliens tromping along bathed only in the licks of torch flames would make many mortals quake in fear, but not for very long if the tall hybrid creature leading them brought his sword down upon them.

"Ten of you, follow me," Goldar instructed. Sure enough, as Rita's chief warrior came to a T-junction, ten Putties rounded the corner with him while the other twenty kept going straight toward Finster, who led them further into the Moon Palace.

Goldar twirled his saw-toothed blade in his hand, flinging his left arm through the doorway to the apothecary where Eye Guy sat with every one of his body parts shut. The ape-griffin kept going along to the main room with his foot soldiers in tow, meeting his queen's piercing gaze.

"My forces are ready to aid me in battling the Rangers, Evil One," Goldar said, bowing forward.

Rita said nothing. She kept her dark eyes locked on her minion's blood red orbs.

Goldar cleared his throat with a growl. "They will not achieve victory this time. One way or another, they will not escape."

The empress stood as she was for another few seconds and then started down the way Goldar came, but not before saying, "Under no circumstances are you to leave those miserable whelps alone."

Rita entered the fire-lit hallway and spoke once more, this time to Scorpina, who was leaning up against the rocky wall.

"Go and meet Finster. He will require the use of your blade."

Scorpina bowed just like Goldar and turned to look at him in the throne room. Goldar nodded and grumbled while the lady demon did the same, snickering. Rita took off and sharply turned right into her potion room. Her high counselor still sat on a stone chamber with every eye shut tight. Meanwhile, the chief scientist Baboo was hard at work at one of the tables. He poured magenta powder and a turquoise substance into a beaker with two hands and measured handfuls of olive-colored rocks against gray ones on a set of scales with his two thinner ones.

"Have you found the way in, counselor?" Rita inquired, going over to Baboo and inspecting his work. The man-bat tried his best not to shudder at the sorceress' presence, beginning to crush some of the rocks.

"Unfortunately, there is an obstacle, my empress," Eye Guy's rolling voice announced.

Rita scowled. "You have had plenty of time…" she replied with a snarl.

"I can sense its very aura," the counselor continued. "But something is different. The feeling is powerful but much smaller than I remember."

"I understand that, but why haven't you found a way in?!"

Eye Guy opened his largest central eye as Rita's shriek reached a crescendo.

"There is a guardian that blocks what I see, no matter how much I try to circumvent it."

Rita gritted her teeth, walked up to her counselor, and flicked a razor-sharp fingernail at his iris, just centimeters away from piercing distance. But the organ and its master didn't flinch an inch.

"Destroy it," she commanded.

"Of course, my lady," Eye Guy said. He pointed toward the doorway, and Baboo, having finished compiling his potion, scurried out. Eye Guy rose, bowed to Rita, and followed the minion in front of him.

Six glowing streaks cut through the sky and touched down on sugar-white sand, revealing Zordon's team of six. The teenagers were greeted with the welcome warmth of the afternoon sun, the movement of a small breeze, and the salty fragrance of the ocean, blue and wide as the eye could see. The group walked along the shoreline, letting the sea spray splash their legs.

"It's a beautiful seashore," Brock remarked, keeping his eyes peeled on the water. "Not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to be at the edge of a farm town, though."

"Perfect place for more monsters," Lia added. She kicked a chunk of wet sand into the water and sighed.

"We've only been up here a few times," Hayashi said. "Never noticed anything off about it, though."

Ash, Misty, and Tracey traversed farther up a big, sandy hill where palm trees towered over them, their fronds bending in the wind. Ash peered past the multitude of towering tropical plants.

"Do you feel anything, guys?" he asked, running his hand up the trunk of one of the trees.

Tracey held his Power Morpher in his left hand. He thought he saw his triceratops Power Coin shimmer with a faint glint of blue when he held it up to the sun, but when he blinked his bleary eyes, it seemed to disappear.

"Trying to."

Misty started to take her shoes off to rest her feet in the sand, but she slipped back into them and looked out into the water. She saw the ocean water break a little in the distance, like something cut across it.

"Something's not right," she called out, pointing outward.

Her friends immediately turned their attention to the blue liquid expanse before them, each one tensing up. Lia brushed her hand against her pocketed Morpher, and something urged her to draw it out. A pink sheen briefly ran across her pterodactyl Power Coin. Her inquisitive countenance turned determined once more. She looked back and Tracey looked at his own Morpher again, nodding toward her.

The waves continued to break for a couple more seconds, and then the movement ceased. The water returned nearly static far out, and that's when the garble of the Putty Patrol broke through the air.


	5. Two by Two

Half a score of sentient space clay contorted through the air, over and around palm trees, and landed on the Riko shoreline. Each of the human targets they surrounded hitched their breath, hastily assuming defensive stances. One Putty began the assault by leaping into another somersault, throwing himself at Ash and Misty, but the boy and girl rebuffed it into the side of a tree with simultaneous jumping side kicks.

"You were right!" Ash yelled to Misty.

Another gray goon barreled into Lia's back, knocking her to the ground face first. It then snaked a craggy forearm around her throat, straining to snap the young lady's neck to the left. However, pressure from Lia's left arm and stiff palm heel strikes from her right hand to the Putty's head prevented that; a baseball slide from Hayashi to the Putty ensured her release.

"Thanks, bro…" Lia choked out, rubbing her throat.

"Are you alright, Lia?" her brother asked, holding Lia's shoulders and steadying her. An attacker ambled up to them from the right, but it was doubled over by a twist kick from the Feran girl and felled by a subsequent spinning leg sweep.

"That's a yes," Hayashi said, laughing as he took on another enemy, twirling into a tornado kick.

Three Putties advanced on Tracey next, backing him up to the foliage. The young man wheeled around a big palm tree by grabbing the trunk, swinging his legs, and knocking down one of the beings by diving his feet into its side. After letting go and getting to his feet, Tracey immediately dropped down as a Putty's huge arm, which ended in a circular boulder, zoomed right for his head. The assailant whipped its limb back, one it found quickly ensnared in Brock's grip. Tracey rose again, punched the gray one's stomach twice, and then landed a ridgehand strike to the nose. After he landed the final strike, the third claybrain dropkicked him to the ground.

Brock instantly rushed forward threw a punch which was deftly blocked; he returned the favor when the Putty countered and fell into a split when a leaping round kick came his way.

"I like to jump, too!" Brock said as he got up, felling the Putty with a jump front kick. He then ran to Tracey, who was tussling with the Putty he had first fought, and helped him take it down with a double hip toss. This led to the one with the boulder arm coming back and swinging, jabbing, and kicking at the two; all the while, another Putty was recovering from Tracey's attacks.

"Hey Brock, up for some tetherball?" Tracey asked his friend while deflecting another haymaker to the side.

Brock took a second to respond. "Why not?"

The two rolled out of the way of another sweeping blow and Tracey took off toward another palm tree, the Putty giving chase. As he juked with his pursuer, the eldest of the teenagers found himself backing up from the enemy that had just gotten to its feet.

"Come on!" Brock shouted, beckoning the Putty to follow him. Rita's minion obliged. Brock took a couple more strides and then rolled onto the sand dune right behind the Putty with the spherical appendage. The Putty chasing him stopped right in its tracks and just looked at him, scratching its head. Meanwhile, its partner slung its heavy arm around the tree again, Tracey ducking just in the nick of time.

 _"Snap at the last moment,"_ Tracey told himself, remembering one of Lia's pointers. He lifted his right leg and exerted the most energy at the top of a pendulum swing, buffeting the boulder with a side thrust kick. The stony body part rotated, taking the Putty with it, and struck the second flunky right in the head, sending both of them to the ground.

"I can't believe they fell for that," Tracey remarked, catching breath.

Brock stretched in the sand. "Crashed is more like it, Trace."

Ash c-stepped backward toward the water, knifehand blocking a rocky fist that was headed for his jaw to the side. The advancing Putty then snapped a front kick toward the young man, but Ash wrapped his right arm around the lower leg and pulled it inward, pummeling the Putty's midsection with two left uppercuts and an inverted chop to the side of the rough-hewn face. He then let the foot soldier go, and Misty was ready to flip the staggering creature into the waves.

The two smiled at each other, but Ash's expression changed when he saw two more Putties, both with bladed arms, ready to run them through.

"Look out!" he shouted, pulling Misty by the arm and diving away from the water. The two humans quickly regained their composure while the Putties whirled around and charged again. Ash and Misty looked at each other for a second and then both fell to the ground, breaking their falls with their arms. This led the enemies to trip over their legs; one faceplanted in the sand, but the other rolled through and got to its feet. Letting out an angry gargle, the Putty darted left, right, and then swung its blade to carve Misty in half. Thankfully, she leapt back with one foot as the arm gashed the earth open. This gave the former Gym Leader the opportunity to run, propel herself off of the Putty's grounded weapon, and take it down with a head scissors takeover.

Misty rose to see Ash knocking down the second Putty with a front kick and a hook kick, only to be tackled by one more of the alien's teammates.

"Ash!" she cried out, pulling him away from the Putty and steadying him to one knee. "Are you okay?"

Ash grunted, clutching the ribs the Putty's head had smashed into and standing up only to hunch over.

"Your…move…" he gasped.

Misty glared at the Putty in front of her and Ash. She then took a couple of steps back and went forward again, rolling on her side on Ash's back and bashing the attacker with a heel kick.

"My back too, Misty?" Ash asked, finally straightening himself out.

Misty grinned. "Awesome move, right? You're welcome."

Suddenly, a tall plume of fire materialized next to the two teenagers, and a brawny, gilded arm knocked them both down.

"Your moves are no match for mine, Rangers!" Goldar proclaimed, raising his clawed foot to stomp Ash and Misty. The humans barely got out of the way just as Goldar crushed the beach sand; the pair struck Goldar's stomach with roundhouse kicks and tried to pin his arms behind him.

"What? What are you doing?" Goldar rasped, struggling to break free.

"We're coming!" Brock shouted. He and Tracey broke away from the Putty Patrollers and sprinted to their friends. Goldar twisted and turned trying to shake his opposition away, but the two young men got under his legs and did their best to hoist the evil warrior up. The Feran siblings came in next, pushing Putties to the side as they made it to the group moving Goldar to the ocean.

"No! No!" Goldar roared while he jostled the teens away from them. Two seconds later, he found himself stumbling backward after a palm strike to the nose from Hayashi and tumbling into the salt water when Lia let out a kyai and hit him with a spin crescent kick.

"We don't have time to deal with you, Goldar!" Lia told him, trying to catch her breath. "Just float on out of here before we do worse than dunk you in the ocean!"

Goldar pushed himself to his left knee, but he was smiling all the while.

 _"Fell for it,"_ he thought.

As soon as Goldar brought his right foot to the ground, the water exploded as something whirled past the six heroes and threw them down. Goldar gained his footing and started laughing.

Lia was the first of the six to her feet, instantly dropping into a fighting stance.

"What was that?" she inquired, turning her head to see what took her and her friends down. An innate surge of urgency forced Lia to push herself to the side, but a twisting spire already sped past her and tore through her white denim jacket and through the skin on her back. The younger Feran screamed as she twisted off her feet and fell on her face.

"No!" Hayashi cried out, running to protect his sister.

"Lia!" Tracey shouted. He crowded around her with Hayashi, Ash, Brock, and Misty, bringing his arm around her back and gently elevating her with her brother and Misty; blood smeared their hands and dripped onto the pure white sand.

"Please, Lia, no…" Hayashi whispered.

"What is that thing?" Ash finally asked. The object that struck Lia spun through the waves and up into the air, contorting to attack once more.

"I don't care…" Lia said hoarsely, tears plummeting down her cheeks and a sob escaping her throat. "It's Morphin Time!"


	6. Out for a Spin

"Dragon!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

Green, black, pink, blue, yellow, and red lights encompassed the six humans who raised their Power Morphers to the sky and yelled the names of their prehistoric avatars. Their Power Coins, each illustrated with an imprint of a dinosaur, propelled a radiant image of a creature forward. Goldar retreated farther back into the ocean to avoid being jettisoned by the Morphing Grid's aura.

Each Power Ranger felt electricity zip through every fiber of their beings, being revitalized from head to toe, but the sensations were most welcome for Pink Ranger Lia, whose first breath when encased in her suit and helmet was like one she'd take after coming up from underwater.

One of the Putty Patrollers attempted to strike her from behind, but Pink Ranger slammed her right elbow into its gut and elevated the back of her fist into its mouth. She then turned to face Goldar and took a few seconds to register what she felt. While her body pulsed with the warmth of otherworldly energy, a welcome cooling sensation flowed over the gash on her back, though the wound throbbed and blood seeped into the suit's thin but durable material.

"Let's dance, Goldie…" she challenged, pulling her Blade Blaster from her white belt's holster.

Goldar merely laughed, crossing his trunk-like arms and kicking some salt water up into the air. The twirling object overhead then hurtled straight for the Pink Ranger, who cartwheeled out of the way. Lia buckled and gasped as put her feet to the sand.

The other Rangers sprung to the side as the entity barreled past them, barely escaping impalement.

"I'm gonna get a lock on that thing!" Blue Ranger exclaimed. His helmet's HUD generated a cursor over the object; numbers and letters ticked away in rapid succession, but Tracey's view was obstructed by a Putty that leapt right on him. While he rolled with the assailant, his teammates each had to square off yet again with the interlopers.

"Keep your eyes peeled, guys!" Red Ranger commanded. He sidestepped a flunky's roundhouse kick and clocked it with a European uppercut to the back of the head. "It's gonna come back!"

Black Ranger and Yellow Ranger found themselves surrounded by four Putties. Two lunged forth and were dropped with a spin heel kick from Misty and a rising knee from Brock. The two that were left latched onto their backs, bashing their arms across their shoulder blades. Both Rangers then caught sight of the twirling mass heading for them and jumped to the right with the Putties still on them. The baddie on the Black Ranger's back got speared by a sharp spire and torn off of its prey while the second one was mashed as the Yellow Ranger rolled over it and dropped an elbow right into the center of its back; unfortunately, Brock found himself tumbling to the sand as well.

"Brock!" Yellow Ranger yelled, rushing to him.

"I'm fine!" Black Ranger replied, steadying himself in an upward position, trying to stop his head from spinning.

"Vertigo!" Tracey reported as he elbowed a Putty in the stomach and landed another on the back of its head. "The monster's name is Ver…AHHH!" Vertigo cruised past the Blue Ranger, but not before razing the white center diamond on his suit. He staggered, crumpled, and clutched his searing chest.

Letting out a chest-powered yell, the Green Ranger spun counterclockwise, slicing two more gray goons with his Dragon Dagger. He kept his eyes locked on Vertigo when he stopped and pressed down hard on a button on the hilt of his blade, sending magical electricity right at the monster, but the speed propelling it helped make the bolt bounce off of Vertigo's frame and split in three. One struck Hayashi right in the chest, but even as the shock overtook him, the sixth Ranger tried to absorb the blast with the gold Dragon Shield that draped over his shoulders and chest; unfortunately, two more zapped him at the legs, causing him to writhe in even more anguish.

Lia, who was locked in close, blade-to-blade quarters with Goldar, briefly turned her head to see her brother whipped to the earth as Vertigo slammed into his Dragon Dagger; the weapon flew several feet before plunking in the sand.

"Hayashi!" she screamed. The pressure she was impressing against Goldar and his jagged weapon vanished, and Rita's warrior took advantage, jabbing her shoulder with the point of the sword and going after her with a deeper stab when she was down. Fortunately, the Pink Ranger flicked her wrist just in time, the silver edge of her Blade Blaster rebuffing the larger sword back a couple of inches and allowing her to send a razor-sharp laser arc into Goldar's chest.

As Goldar stutter-stepped backward, he prepared to attack Lia again, but Vertigo came rushing his way, making the heavy leap to the side.

"Watch it, Vertigo!" he shouted as the monster took off in the direction of the ocean. "You're supposed to make _them_ shout during the Twist and Shout!" He cast a sneer at Lia, who heaved herself over to help Hayashi to his feet.

"I'll be fine…" Green Ranger huffed, gripping his sister's hand tight as he straightened out; Pink Ranger said nothing, gritting her teeth hard. The other four regrouped with them in the ensuing seconds.

"This thing's like a bullet train!" Black Ranger cried, arching his throbbing back. "It hasn't changed speed even when it has to turn!"

Red Ranger narrowed his gaze at Vertigo, which kept spinning out toward the horizon and then arced upward. His HUD was mapping out the shape of the monster.

"There's a spire on each side…" he said. "Smooth steps…steps? Rita's sending a staircase after us?!"

"Okay, I didn't think she'd run out of ideas _this_ soon…" Yellow Ranger mused, putting her palms together.

Blue Ranger reached his arms out and summoned his Tricera Lance from the Morphing Grid, bright blue light forming the weapon in his hands. He whirled the lance and raised one end with three sharp points toward the shoreline, Vertigo fast approaching.

"Are you crazy, Tracey?" Green Ranger asked. "That weirdo almost knocked my weapon clear to California!" He spied upon his Power Weapon laying on the beach and saw Goldar stomping toward it, prompting the Ranger to head him off.

"We have to ground this thing!" Tracey instructed. He saw Misty draw out her Dino Crystal and let its energy fall over her. "I have an idea. Misty, I'll go high. You wrap it up!"

"I'm on it!" Misty answered. Three seconds passed as the spinning staircase whizzed toward the two, and at the last second, Blue Ranger jumped high into the air and onto the whirling monster. While Tracey hung on for dear life, the Yellow Ranger released a torrent of green vines from her hands. Her Jungle Barrier snaked around Vertigo's base, but despite Misty's enhanced strength, she found herself hoisted into the air, hanging on to a thick piece of the foliage surrounding Vertigo.

The Blue Ranger panted and strained every muscle in his body in his attempt to try and turn the monstrosity himself as tiny twigs and other bits of greenery broke over his helmet visor and all over his body, all to no effect. The world around him became a sickening blur as he cycled in midair.

Meanwhile, Misty had wrapped herself around the thick vines that were floating in the air and whipping down to the ground, trying to keep herself from being decapitated by low hanging branches; birds and other animals did their best to match Vertigo's speed and get away from the rampaging menace.

"Tracey!" the Yellow Ranger yelled. "The Tricera Lance!"

Tracey struggled to turn his head to see Yellow Ranger several yards behind him with her right hand outstretched.

 _"Please don't fall and jettison into a tree…"_ Blue Ranger told himself as he slowly released his own right arm, which had been cradling his Power Weapon against his chest, from the spiral staircase. He released the lance from his grip and it flew backward. Yellow Ranger snatched the Tricera Lance and grasped it so hard her knuckles seared with pain. With the hand still latched onto the vines of the Jungle Defender, she concentrated and poured more energy into them, thickening the plants.

"Okay, go ahead and drop!" she told Tracey.

His stomach was already churning from the hectic motion, but the heroine's order made Tracey even sicker to his stomach. But rather than face the prospect of getting bashed through something else, he made his best attempt to release, tuck, and roll away from Vertigo. The Blue Ranger tumbled across the terrain, the pain coursing through his body bursting as he rolled down a hill and into some thorny brush.

Yellow Ranger drove the three razor-sharp points of one end of the Tricera Lance through the vines she held. With one more hard push, she sent the green mass and the trident flying toward yet another tree in the area, tall and thick with age. Rolling on her side away from Vertigo, she saw the Tricera Lance pierce its target. Seconds later, the airborne Jungle Defender snapped taught as Veritgo pulled it to its full length. Misty sighed in relief, but her next exhalation became a gasp when the foliage snapped once more and ripped the Tricera Lance out of the tree, sending wooden splinters flying toward her; the creature would not be stopped.

"Oh no…" Blue Ranger whispered, seeing what happened. He raised his right hand toward his soaring lance and shouted, "Return!" A flash of blue light surrounded the weapon, and it disappeared back into the Morphing Grid.

 _"Oorahr!"_

Goldar's guttural roar preceded his next movement against the Red, Pink, Black, and Green Rangers, a spinning slash with his jagged sword that cut across all four of his enemies and sent them sprawling across the sand.

"The Golden Power will never be yours!" he boasted. He tromped over to the Red Ranger, reaching down and hoisting him up by his white belt. Letting out a sinister chuckle, he put the bottom of his blade to Ash's throat. The hero rotated his hips and shot a left fist toward the henchman's jaw, but Goldar seized his hand and pulled Red Ranger closer to him, the needlelike edges of the sword pressing even harder against his trachea.

" _Ayah_!"

Goldar let out a gurgling shout when the Green Ranger tightened up and unleashed a spinning slash of his own, the edge of his Dragon Dagger tearing across the ape-griffin's metallic back. Goldar released Red Ranger from his grip and both of them fell down.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Black Ranger asked, raising his friend up under his shoulder.

"As okay as I can be after almost having my head cut off, man," Ash huffed, rubbing his throat. He then turned to Hayashi, who was helping his sister Lia to her feet.

"Thanks, Hayashi. I owe you big time."

Hayashi shook his head. "Not even close, buddy. We've got to make sure the others are okay."

Goldar pushed himself up on all fours, hacked up a wad of slime into the sand, and allowed himself a laugh.

"Your friends have probably been bashed or speared into oblivion by now, Rangers!" he announced. "Vertigo is much too fast for you, and you can't keep me down!"

" _Heads up!"_

The four Power Rangers squaring off with Goldar noticed a message on their HUDs telling them Vertigo was drawing near, but the Blue and Yellow Rangers' conjoined warning made them catch sight of the whirling, sterling staircase careening toward them. Ash and Brock sprang to the left while the Ferans dodged to the left, staying low. As the monster moved down, its spires cutting across the sand and spraying it about, Goldar jumped to the side and latched onto it.

"Is he insane?" Yellow Ranger asked.

"Yeah, that didn't work so well for me!" Blue Ranger added. "He's either gonna lose his lunch or be thrown in the ocean!"

Vertigo, with Rita's chief warrior in tow, indeed moved out to sea, instantly contorting upward. Goldar hoisted himself to the top step of the staircase. He hunched low and gripped onto the two spires, the two sharp eyes flashing inside of the glass. Vertigo turned to begin another descent, and Goldar sneered at the Power Rangers. His blood red eyes glowed orange, releasing a volley of fireballs at his six targets. The group dove out of the way of some of the projectiles, but some of the flying flames struck each other, creating a bigger explosion that threw the humans with the power of the dinosaurs even farther.

"Stay separated!" Red Ranger commanded, hobbling after he banged his knee on the ground. "Vertigo can't chase us all that way!"

"Right, Ash!" Pink Ranger responded, drawing her Blade Blaster. "Hayashi, Tracey, come with me!"

The Green and Blue Rangers nodded, drawing their Dragon Dagger and Blade Blaster respectively and following her while the Black and Yellow Rangers regrouped with Ash.

"I can accommodate your plans!" Goldar snarled. He summoned his sword and brought his hand to his eyes while Vertigo reached for the sky again. With a flourish, Goldar sent a cyclone of flaming orbs in all directions. This time, the Rangers were ready for him. Hayashi, Lia, and Tracey buffeted the fire with green, pink, and blue beams of energy while Brock, imbued with the power of his Dino Crystal, halted the momentum of some other attacks with a sheet of Glacier Flash ice propelled by a spinning heel kick; whatever was left of the evil being's assault hit trees and beach surface. Burning holes into the wood or creating standing fires.

"Nice job! Keep him distracted!" Lia yelled as the diabolical duo surged upward. Her teammates obliged, firing more rays at Goldar, who deflected some of them with heavy swings of his sword. A couple of blasts hit him on the shoulders and back, rattling the warrior a bit.

Lia reached out her right hand to the side, her Ptera Bow materializing from the Morphing Grid. She took a deep breath to steady herself while she prepared an arrow. With every inch she pulled the arrow back, the burning ache from the gash in her back increased.

 _"Come on. Let's turn things around…"_

Pink Ranger squeezed her left eye shut and clamped her teeth down tight, leading her target and ignoring the pain. Vertigo was moving downward yet again, spinning into a perpendicular trajectory toward the Rangers. Fatigue weighed down her head and forced her right eyelid down bit by bit, but Lia snapped alert as she saw Goldar's grinning mug clearly. She let the arrow sail into the air and on a straight path, its momentum only slightly slowed when the arrow's tip tore into the midnight blue flesh surrounding Goldar's left eye. He shouted and lost his grip, falling off of Vertigo and plunking down in the sand.

"Ready?" Lia asked.

"Now!" Ash responded. Raising his Dino Crystal to the sky, it dissolved into sparkling energy that covered the Red Ranger.

"Quake Defender!"

His fist struck the ground as the last syllable hit the air, unleashing a frightening rumble through the earth's surface that caused a stumbling Goldar to meet the sand again. A large crack formed where the Red Ranger hit the ground, ingesting beach sand and releasing a wall of subterranean steam, one that the staircase being was heading straight for. The creature's eyes flashed, but it was too late. Vertigo twisted into the protective barrier, its flight instantly halted.

The Power Rangers cheered, slapping hands and breathing a sigh of relief. Yet, their revere was cut short by a frustrated growl.

"You haven't gotten rid of the problem yet, Rangers!" Goldar called out. He had his paw pressed tight against the wound the Pink Ranger had given him, purple blood streaming from his face and past his palm, dripping onto his wrist.

"Care to go another round and test that theory?" Pink Ranger inquired, stringing back another arrow. The other Rangers flanked her, drawing their individual Power Weapons as well.

Goldar shifted backward and said, "Don't forget that your best-laid plans will always be to our advantage!" He then whipped his right arm in front of him and vanished in a cloud of fire.

"Let's not wait to find out what he means," Red Ranger said. "It's time to demolish this thing!"

"You said it!" Red Ranger answered, brandishing his Mammoth Axe. "But maybe we should try the old-fashioned way. Beams might still be dangerous to use."

With a collective agreement and shout, the Power Rangers charged toward Vertigo, which was still immobilized by the protective steam. The edifice's glassy body proved to be quite tough when blades rained down on it, but cracks and cuts did begin to form, and the monster wasn't going to have any of that.

 _CLANG! CRRRRRICK!_

"Huh?"

When Misty dove her second Tiger Dagger into one of Vertigo's smooth steps, bits of glass spraying from the strike, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Vertigo was starting to turn.

"Guys, Vertigo's about to get moving!" she warned.

Ash stopped in mid sword swing and also saw the spires turning; the Quake Defender's vapor was also dissipating as Vertigo moved.

"Oh no… Everybody hold on!"

Each hero wrapped his or her arms around the spiral staircase, but as each wisp of mist disappeared, Vertigo gained more and more turning speed, pulling the hangers on at a trot and then at a run. The Blue and Yellow Rangers were whipped off of Vertigo's left side while the Red and Green Rangers were flipped over the right next to their friends. Black Ranger, who had been bracing against the front of the beast, was bowled over by its speed. Only Pink Ranger had a hold of Vertigo, gripping one of the two spikes at the top and hitching herself to the enemy.

"Lia, no!" Misty yelled.

"Get off before you get splattered!" Tracey added.

Lia ignored their pleas, and Vertigo continued its newest charge through the forest. Even as branches and other debris crashed into her, the Pink Ranger held on for dear life.

 _"There has to be a way to destroy Vertigo,"_ Lia told herself, ducking her head as one of the being's spires bored through another tree and split it in half. _"Even enchanted blades have a hard time with this nightmare!"_

As Vertigo decided to tilt upward and take to the sky once more, the abrupt change in altitude caused Lia's right hand to slip down the glass spire she was clinging to, running down the smooth banister.

"Wait…" Lia whispered, regaining her hold on the monster. "Glass… That's it!"

Vertigo twisted farther and farther up, far past the trees and high enough to where she could see Riko's coastline. Counting to three, the Pink Ranger moved her left hand to the right spire and, taking a deep breath, shimmied up and wrapped her legs around the point, clasping her hands together while she hung upside down.

"Oh man!" Blue Ranger gasped.

"Lia, stop!" Green Ranger pleaded, bolting a few steps forward. "You're gonna kill yourself!"

Black Ranger studied the scene unfolding in front of them. Lia had formed her Dino Crystal and, imbued with its energy, hoisted herself up back to gripping Vertigo by its two spires.

"Wait," he said. "She might have a plan."


	7. Shards, Songs, and Sight

_"It'll just take a little time…"_

Pink Ranger Lia gripped the two points of the airborne staircase with all her might. She saw dabs of blood, which Vertigo had shed from her own back, staining the nearly transparent glass and now her white gloves. With each passing second, the monster started to glow a faint orange and hairline cracks began to grow into noticeable gashes.

As Vertigo climbed several more feet into the Riko sky, Lia noticed another flash of color out of the corner of her eye: bright pink. With every upward inch, her Power Morpher and Coin blinked faster.

"Wait…" she said, gasping. "This must be the access point…"

When Lia uttered that last word, Vertigo's eyes flickered and the beast lurched in an arc. That sudden movement sent the pair hurtling downward, the Pink Ranger's muscles searing with pain as she tried not to lose her grip and plummet to her death.

"Everybody move now!" Red and Green Rangers spontaneously yelled together. The five Rangers bolted toward the far edge of the beach, their limbs burning and their blood running cold as they kept their eyes on their friend spiraling in tandem with Rita's increasingly brightening monster.

Meanwhile, the Pink Ranger shut her eyes and clamped her jaw so tight she thought her teeth would break partly to keep from throwing up inside her helmet and in preparation for what would be coming next besides a potential head-on collision with the trees not but a hundred yards away. With a final surge of energy from Lia, a mass of fire burst into the open air, shattering Vertigo into hundreds of light blue pieces and sending the Pink Ranger into a tumbling freefall.

The other Rangers wanted to cheer their compatriot on, but they were too bent on saving her. Yet, just as Lia twisted yet again in her descent, she fanned her arms out and began to glide through the air, swooping down past the trees and toward the beachhead nearby. The five heroes chasing the sixth changed course and followed her as she flew closer to the ground, finally touched down, and tumbled in the sand.

 _"Skies of fire, blood so red,_

 _Bring such rest to my weary head."_

Despite the sounds of the labor the Putties were doing, Scorpina's singing eclipsed the noise resounding through the walls of where they toiled. The lady warrior had led her many charges to a dank, torchlit cavern far beneath the Moon Palace, where she set them to work mining heaps of orange and black striped stone in a deep pit.

 _"The fear and anguish in your little eyes,_

 _Such a salve to my soul is your demise."_

Scorpina sighed in contentment, hacking another huge, rocky slab from one of the walls. She traced a golden claw over her boomerang sword while four Putty Patrollers scuttled to the stone and drug it away.

 _"Your rainbow brings hope to many lives,_

 _But your love still poisons my empress' land._

 _Yet take heart, vermin, for I will smile,_

 _When I hack you to bits, so small like grains of sand."_

Scorpina giggled, dragging her hand gently over a few more flunkies' backs while they struck the pit with pick axes and their own bladed arms. She continued to hum the melody of her song while she inspected the scene. The Putties, though bringers of pain and misery themselves, shuddered during their boss' performance and worked even faster when she came by, doing anything to keep their minds off the horrific lyrics.

"Hmmm…"

"That's not the melody!" the demoness cheerfully said. "Too flat. Far too flat."

Eye Guy, standing off above the pit with his arms crossed, opened several of the organs on his back and peered at everyone.

"Vertigo has been destroyed," the high counselor said.

"Did it take any Rangers with him?"

Eye Guy stood in silence. Two Putties passing him by with armloads of clay quickened their pace. A third working near Scorpina looked to the side and saw her smile curve in the opposite direction. The worker became even more jittery than it was, the axe in its hands rattling while the Putty shook.

"Phase One is complete, my mistress," Eye Guy reported. "However, the Rangers all still live."

Suddenly, everyone in the area heard a distended voice echo throughout the cavern.

"There will be no escape for Zordon's children now thanks to Vertigo," Rita spoke in a calm voice. " _You_ are to dispatch them as well as anything else that blocks our way."

"What you order will be done," Eye Guy replied with a bow, all of his eyes closing in reverence.

"Scorpina, you will stay and work on the masterpiece. You are not to leave until you have finished."

The gilded demoness tightened her grip around her sword, tossing it into a far rock wall and nearly through a scrambling Putty's head.

"Do you understand?"

Scorpina closed her eyes and forced herself to take deliberate breaths. She walked over to the other side of the pit and picked up her armament.

"Yes, Empress Rita," she answered. "Not until it is complete."

One of the high counselor's irises on his left shoulder peered into the distance, and one by one each eye focused in the same direction. Baboo was huddled near a bend in the dark, dark path.

"It's time to go," Eye Guy said, making the scientist jump. Baboo clutched a big, leathery bag close to his hairy chest, and both beings vanished from sight.

When Eye Guy and Baboo left, Scorpina spat in the dirt, hoisted up a chunk of clay, and hurled it at three busy Putty Patrollers and knocking them to the ground.

"That pus-filled eyesore and four-eyed lab rat think they can finish off the Rangers?!" she shrieked, stomping over to one of the Putties and lifting it up by the throat. "It takes a killer instinct to do that, and I'm sick of holding back!"

Scorpina mashed the Putty into the wall and slashed its chest with her gauntlet. The worker crumpled and another one was forced to the ground as Scorpina stepped on its back and leapt up above the pit.

"And now," she continued while she walked around the bend Baboo had been hiding in; a few Putties pushing wheelbarrows of rocks and clay avoided even looking in her direction. "I have to do that neurotic goat's job since he can't get a monster right. Well, they do say it takes a woman's touch."

"Are you sure that's the entry to the Sacred Realm?" Misty asked as she scanned the sky above. Her HUD did indeed show a blip of light where Lia was pointing, but a series of question marks accompanied the reading. "I remember Zordon saying there are other dimensions besides that one."

"Misty's right," Brock said, helping Hayashi hold Lia up. "What if we get trapped somehow, too?"

Ash activated his Wrist Communicator, ushering everyone to get closer to him.

"Zordon," he said. "Lia may have found a way into the Sacred Realm, but we're not sure what the readings we have mean."

Back at the Command Center, Zordon closed his eyes in thought. Alpha 5 was trying to analyze the new discovery himself.

"We are working to find the answer ourselves, Rangers," the wizard answered. "Lia, first I must congratulate you on dispatching Vertigo with such composure and quick thinking."

"You were amazing, sis," Hayashi added, rubbing his sibling's back.

Lia forced a laugh. "When in doubt, set something on fire."

Alpha cut into the talk, "The area you've noted indeed shows a distortion much like the one that led to Goldar's Dark Dimension, but our system cannot penetrate it or show a path to where it leads."

"Keep trying, Alpha," Red Ranger urged. "It has to lead somewhere important."

Pink Ranger peered at the sky and rubbed her head. "Hold on," she began. "Guys, those maps showed that Riko used to be a mountainous region, right? Maybe that's a clue."

Blue Ranger Tracey snapped his fingers. "Maybe. But we're way north of where the kingdom was central. Brock, what do you know about this region?"

The Black Ranger huffed and shook his head. "I'm a little fuzzy right now, buddy," he let out. "Anybody else?"

The Green, Yellow and Red Rangers tried to come up with an answer, but it was Lia that piped up next.

"Wait!" She tried to shrug off Brock and Hayashi. "There was a name for this place. D…De…" She let out a scream and grasped at her helmet, just about ready to wrench it off and dash it to the ground. "Why can't I remember?!"

"It's alright, Lia," Zordon said. "Rangers, though the land you stand on has gone by many names over the centuries, one has always been constant…"

"Well hello there!"

The Power Rangers spun around together just in time to see Baboo emerge from dirty blue flash in the air. The man-bat was smiling and waving his four arms as if he were greeting good friends.

"Aw, great… I thought we were done with bats!" Misty remarked with a groan.

"Get out of here, Baboo!" Hayashi exclaimed. "We're not in the mood."

Baboo raised his eyebrows and started tapping the tips of his fingers together. "Let's see… Witty comeback for the superheroes. Witty comeback…"

While the monster scientist pondered what to say next, a series of twinkling lights materialized behind the Rangers, forming into Eye Guy.

"Just wonderful…" Lia muttered.

"Defensive positions, everyone!" Ash ordered, assuming a back stance and looking down. "Don't look into the main eye!"

"That's okay, Powerless Rangers," Eye Guy retorted. As he spoke, his gigantic primary organ shifted from an angry red to crystal clear. Six translucent spheres flew from the eye, each one striking a Ranger and swallowing them up in a glob of light. The spheres were joined together by a single tendril, and the appendage snapped the orbs right into Eye Guy's main pupil. Baboo gasped, chills running down his spine. Eye Guy laughed.

"Why don't you take some time to see things how I see them?"


End file.
